Rich listers lose $2.6bn

The rich have not been spared from the market meltdown. Ten of Australia’s richest individuals have lost more than $2.6 billion in wealth in the past five trading days on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Andrew Forrest
is the biggest loser on the ASX, seeing a whopping $887 million wiped off the value of his
Fortescue Metals Group
since the close of the market last Monday, August 1.

No sector of the market has been spared, with resources, media, gaming and retail stocks among those being marked down heavily. Many of the country’s wealthiest individuals and families have suffered double-digit losses in only five days.

Mr Forrest is not the only BRW Rich List member with a vast amount of wealth tied to resources stocks to be hit hard.
Nathan Tinkler
’s stake in coal outfit
Aston Resources
is down $100 million, while Tony Poli, the executive chairman of
Aquila Resources
, has lost $173 million in the past week.

In percentage terms,
Peter Bond
, founder and executive chairman of clean coal technology company
Linc Energy
, is the biggest loser on the S&P/ASX 200 Index in the past five trading days. His stake is down by 29.8 per cent, or $171 million. In the same period, the S&P/ASX 200 is down 11.4 per cent, with no company on the index’s shares gaining value. The index is down 16 per cent since ­January 1.

Linc is the worst performer on the index in the past five days and yesterday’s announcements that the company had decided to go ahead with due diligence on the $US236 million ($228.9 million) deal to purchase Texas oil and gas fields from ERG Resources, after previously saying it would not complete the transaction, drove its share price down 4.8 per cent.

Media companies have also been hit hard, cutting the wealth of some of the biggest names in corporate Australia.
Ten Network Holdings
was one of the worst-performing stocks on the S&P/ASX 200 in the past five days, according to Bloomberg.

Ten shares were down 17.9 per cent in that time, wiping about $21 million from the value of
Gina Rinehart
’s stake and another $18 million from the stakes of both
James Packer
and acting chief executive
Lachlan Murdoch
.

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Mr Packer’s other large shareholdings have also taken a hit. His stake in casino owner and operator
Crown
is down almost $310 million, while his shareholding in
Consolidated Media Holdings
is worth $56 million less than a week ago.

Another big investor in Consolidated Media,
Kerry Stokes
, has also suffered. His stake in
Seven Group Holdings
, which owns shares in Consolidated Media and
Seven West Media
, is down $313 million.

Retailer and
Harvey Norman Holdings
executive chairman
Gerry Harvey
was listed as a billionaire with wealth of $1.41 billion when the latest BRW Rich List list was published at the end of May. However, given the Harvey Norman share price performance since then, Mr Harvey has almost certainly lost his billionaire status. The value of his shares has fallen by $112 million in the past week.

One who has fared well compared with his peers is
Westfield Group
co-founder
Frank Lowy
. Although Westfield and
Westfield Retail Trust
shares have suffered heavily this year, Mr Lowy’s combined stake in the two entities was down $92 million in the past five days. Outgoing
Toll Holdings
chief executive
Paul Little
has also lost money, with $20 million being wiped off the value of his shares since Monday last week.

Mr Little announced last Thursday he was stepping down in favour of chief financial officer Brian Kruger, from the beginning of 2012.

Australian executives of companies listed overseas have not been spared either.
Rupert Murdoch
’s shareholding in
News Corporation
was down $433 million before the beginning of trading on the New York Stock exchange last night.

Mr Glasenberg, an Australian ­citizen, has lost more than $1.1 billion from his Glencore shares since the beginning of last week, before the shares began trading on the London Stock Exchange last night.